Crutch



n- 12, 1954 c. K. THACKERAY CRUTCH Filed Jan. 22, 1949 INVENTOR 6. 7Z4kay BY I ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 12,1954

CRUTCH Charles K. Thackeray, Stamford, Conn., assignor to RehabilitationCenter for the Physically Handicapped, Incorporated, Stamford, Conn., acorporation of Connecticut Application January 22, 1949, Serial No.72,163

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a crutch, and more particularly to that classof crutch equipped with a prong or other device whereby the crutch maybe used with safety on slippery icy surfaces. Crutches of the particularclass are well known in the art, but none of the prior art crutches havebeen commercially successful because of cumbersome, heavy andcomplicated constructions which have required complete and expensivevariations of the usual crutch structure.

It is the object of my invention to contribute a crutch of the classdescribed that will be very simple and inexpensive to manufacture, andwill follow very closely the construction of the usual commercial crutchnow well known in the art.

As one feature of my invention, I form one of the usual bowed legs of acrutch with a groove, preferably on the surface, that readily lendsitself to covering by a simple wood strip, and then mounting the prongoperating means in this groove where they are confined by the wood stripagainst flexing outwardly of the groove.

As a further feature of my invention, I use for my operating means along thin rod adapted to slide in the groove. It is quite obvious thatthis rod, even though preferably quite thin so as to permit flexingthereof when required, will accept considerable endwise pressure andwill resist endwise movement because of the shape of the groove in whichit lies. Therefore, the rod lends itself admirably for use intransmitting motion from a handle to a prong or the like, the handlebeing mounted crosswise in the usual fashion between the bowed legs ofthe crutch, while the prong preferably rests entirely within the footformed by the usual union of the two bowed legs of the crutch.

As a further feature of my invention, the handle is adapted to rotate acam, the cam in turn moving the rod endwise in its groove. Byparticularly forming the cam, rotation of the handle in either ofopposed directions will move the rod effectively. As a particularfeature of this part of the invention, the cam is equipped with a detentsurface whereby it is interlocked with the rod, holding the rod in adownward effective position while the rod in turn holds the cam andhandle against rotation.

A further feature of the invention resides in the utilization of a prongmounted in the foot of the crutch and spring pressed upwardly out ofoperating position by a spring, the spring in turn holding the prongagainst the operating rod.

I have thus outlined rather broadly the more important features of myinvention in order that the detailed description thereof that fol lowsmay be better understood, and in order that my contribution to the artmay be better appreelated. There are, of course, additional features ofmy invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form thesubject of the claims appended hereto. Those skilled in the are willappreciate that the conception on which my disclosure is based mayreadily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures forcarrying out the several purposes of my invention. It is important,therefore, that the claims to be granted me shall be of sufiicientbreadth to prevent the appropriation of my invention by those skilled inthe art.

Referring now to the drawings, Fig. l is an elevation and partialsection of a crutch embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a section takenalong lines 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view of the parts of Fig. 2 withthe handle cam rotated Fig. 4 is an enlarged section showing the methodof mounting my handle for rotation relatively to one of the legs of thecrutch. Fig. 5 is a section taken along lines 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, my crutch is formed ofa right bowed leg l0 and a left bowed leg H meeting at l2 to form afoot. At their upper ends the legs H], H are joined by an arm supportI3. A handle it is provided, and is positioned in the usual manner wellknown in the art between the bowed legs l0, H. The handle I4 is adaptedfor rotation relatively to the bowed legs and for that purpose is formedwith a bore l5 through which extends a rod 16 headed at both ends at I!relatively to the bowed legs 10, ll. Preferably, a washer I8 is fittedbetween each head I! and each of the two legs. It is quite obvious thatthe hanclllse M will rotate readily relatively to the rod .The leg H ofmy. crutch, as shown in the several figures, is formed with a groove l9leading from the lower end of the bowed leg I I upwardly to the pointwhere the handle I4 is mounted for rotation. For covering the groove, Ipreferably use a strip of wood 20 that may be glued or otherwisefastened in position as will. be readily apparent. Within the groove 19I mount a long thin and flexing rod 2!, this rod being adapted forsliding movement within the groove l9 as is quite obvious. Because ofthe bowed nature of leg II and the consequent form of the groove l9, rod2| will be held frictionally against movement in the groove I 9 whilebending to conform to the groove. Moreover, it is obvious that therelatively thin rod 2] will be capable of accepting a great deal of endpressure because of the manner in which it is mounted.

The bowed leg H is formed with an opening 22 communicating with theupper end of the groove 19, and rotating in this opening 22 is a cam 23that is fixed to the handle M by a pair of screws 24. Cam 23 is soshaped that when rotated by the handle I4 relatively to the opening 22,it will effect linear movement of the rod 2| as is best seen in Figs. 2and 3. It will be noted further that the cam 23 is heart-shaped and thatit does not matter whether it is rotated clockwise or counter-clockwiseby handle l4. Cam 23 is preferably equipped with a detent notch 25whereby when the cam occupies the position of Fig. 3, it is yieldinglyheld against rotation by the rod 2|. It in turn holds the rod 2| againstupward movement to the position of Fig. 2. Therefore, it may be saidthat the rod and cam are in mutual retaining relation when they arepositioned as shown in Fig. 3.

The foot |2 of the crutch is formed by the union of legs H), H and iscovered by the usual rubber member 26, this member 26 being here shownwith a bore 27 for a prong 28. Prong 28 rests in a bore 29 formed in thefoot i2 and in communication'with the bore |9 of leg A spring 39operates between the shoulder 3| of prong 28 and a washer 32 carried bythe rubber member 26. It is thus the function of the rubber memberthrough the washer 32 and spring 39 to maintain the prong 28 in itsposition of Fig. 2.

In operation, the prong will be maintained normally as in Fig. 2 byspring 3|), while rod 2| is held upwardly by friction. When it isdesired to extend the prong, the handle may be rotated in either ofopposed directions from the position of Fig. 2 to the position of Fig.3. The rod 2| and the cam 23 are now in mutual retaining relationshipand the prong 28 is extended for use. Upward endwise thrust will bereadily accepted by the rod 2| and cam 23 to hold the prong extended.When it is desired to allow the prong to return to its position of Fig.2, the cam 23 is rotated to its position of Fig. 2. Then with theapplication of pressure to the prong 28, the prong will move upwardly tothe position of Fig. 2 and will carry with it the rod 2|. Thereafter,friction will hold the rod 2| in position while the prong will bemaintained in position by the spring 30. My invention is so arrangedthat pressure must'preferably be applied to the prong 28 to move the rod2| upwardly to its position of Fig. 2, the pressure exerted by spring3|] being very slight. Therefore, the spring cannot function to move theparts back to the position of Fig. 2 from Fig. 3. Spring 30 is ofsufficient power, however, to maintain the prong itself in the positionof Fig. 2 once pressure has been applied to move the rod 2| to thatparticular position.

I believe that the construction of my invention and the ratherconsiderable contribution I have made to this highly developed art willnow be apparent to those skilled in that art.

I now claim:

1. In a crutch of the class described, a pair of bowed legs joined attheir lower ends to, form a foot, a handle rotatably mounted on saidlegs in cross-relation thereto, one of said legs having a surface groovetherein, a relatively thin flexing rod in said groove extending betweensaid foot and handle and per se incapableof accepting the compressiveforce required for supporting the weight of a person thereon, a coveringstrip secured to said leg in covering relation to said groove to formwith said groove an internal bore for said rod, said covering strip andsaid groove being of such size and form that said bore formedtherebetween confines said thin rod for movement axially of its lengthwithin said bore in the path determined by said bore and holds Gil therod against flexing relatively to said bore upon the application oflinear compressive force against said rod, said rod thereby becomingeffective to accept linear compressive force, a prong in said footengaged with said rod for applying linear compressive force against thesaid rod when said prong extends beyond said foot, and means wherebyrotation of said handle moves said rod linearly in said groove to effectmovement of said-prong relatively to said foot between a positioninwardly of said foot and a position outwardly of said foot.

2. In a crutch of the class described, a pair of bowed legs joined attheir lower ends to form a foot, a handle rotatably mounted on said legsin cross-relation thereto, a covering strip applied to the outer surfaceof one of said legs, said strip and said one of said legs havinginternal cooperating surfaces forming therebetween an internal bore, .arelatively thin flexing rod in said bore extending between said foot andhandle and per se incapable of accepting the linear compressive forcerequired for supporting the weight of a person thereon, said bore beingof such size as to confine said thin rod for movement axially of itslength within said bore in the path determined by said bore and to holdthe rod against flexing relatively to said bore upon the application oflinear compressive force against said rod, said rod thereby becomingeifective to accept linear compressive force, a prong in said foot forapplying linear compressive force against the said rod when said prongextends beyond said foot, and means whereby rotation of said handlemoves said rod linearly in said groove to effect movement of said prongrelatively to said foot from a position inwardly of said foot to aposition outwardly of said foot.

3. In a crutch of the class described, a pair of bowed legs joined attheir lower ends to form a foot, a covering strip applied to the outersurface of one of said legs, said strip and said one of said legs havinginternal cooperating surfaces forming therebetween an internal bore, arelatively thin flexing rod in said bore and per se incapable ofaccepting the linear compressive force required for supporting theweight of a person thereon, said bore being of such size as to confinesaid thin rod for movement axially of its length within said bore in thepath determined by said bore and to hold the rod against flexingrelatively to said bore upon the application of linear compressive forceagainst said rod, said rod thereby becoming effective to accept linearcompressive force, a prong in said foot for applying linear compressiveforce against the said rod when said prong extends beyond said foot, andmeans for moving said rod linearly in said groove to effect movement ofsaid prong relatively to said foot from a position inwardly of said footto a position outwardly of said foot.

CHARLES K. THACKERAY.

' References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSNumber Name Date 404,303 Remillard May '28, 1889 1,127,893 Hover Feb. 9,1915 1,257,181 Bradford Feb. 19, 191.8 1,441,317 Walsh et a1. Jan. '9,1923 1,748,875 Fisher Feb. 25, 1930 2,088,786 Gilbert et a1. 'Aug. 3,1937 2,376,282 Schroeder May 15, 1945 2,437,076 Clemens Mar. 2, 1948

